Language barrier
by Kuragehime
Summary: Ichigo is headed to his new home with his sisters but on the way a group of rebels attack them. How does love blossom between a savage leader of the rebels and a conscientious young man when the two of them can t understand each others language.
1. Chapter 1

They were getting closer. Ichigo knew that at this rate they would be captured. He would be either killed or taken as a slave and red head simply refused to even think what could happen to the twins.

Just a moment ago the three of them had been on their way to their new home, where their father Isshin was waiting for them. They had had a long ride with the horse carriage when suddenly the horse driver had given Ichigo a short and simple order to take his sisters and run.

They had been attacked.

The red head figured that the ones behind the attack were probably the rebel group that called itself the Espadas.

Ichigo hugged his unconscious little sister closer to his chest and rushed his other sister to run faster. "Karin, hurry! Just a little further. We need to hide you and Yuzu."

Behind Ichigo, only few steps away, Karin was running with all of her might to keep up with her big brothers killer pace. She didn't have enough oxygen to answer him; it took all of her attention to keep on breathing and focusing to follow her brother.

Ichigo could see that his sister was exhausted. She wouldn´t be able to run much farther anymore. He scanned the surroundings and saw a big bush around 10 meters away. Ichigo made a quick turn to the right and upon reaching the bush he lowered his sister inside it, gently but swiftly.

Karin caught up with her brother. She was covered from head to toe in tiny droplets of sweat, her breathing was laboured and her legs were shaking from the run.

As soon as Ichigo had gotten Yuzu inside the bush he turned to Karin and picked her up, like she weighted nothing. Karin was lowered inside the bush, beside her fraternal twin sister. Karin would have wanted to protest on being picked up but she was scared and had no strength to speak up. Normally, she was a strong girl but beneath her tough exterior she was still just a child. She looked Ichigo with her dark eyes shimmering with tears, begging her brother to stay.

Ichigo gave his sister an apologetic smile. He brushed his hand against Karin´s cheek. "Karin, no matter what you see or hear, you are to stay here. When you no longer hear any voices and you are sure that there are no people around, take Yuzu and get back to the main road. Follow it and you´ll reach Karakura town in four or six hours. I´ll join you as soon as I can. Be careful." Ichigo gave a brief kiss to his sister´s forehead. Karin was stunned but as soon as Ichigo left, she acted and crouched down, covering Yuzu in case she would wake up. Karin was trying to be as silent as she could but she couldn´t stop herself from shaking and the tears were silently rolling down her cheeks. She wanted to sniffle but she didn´t dare to. The fear that the people who attacked them might hear her was far too great. Karin squeezed her eyes shut and uttered a silent prayer.

'_Let Ichi-nii be allright'_

Ichigo kept running, making as much noise as he could, without being too obvious. There was only one thought inside his head. He had to take the rebels as far away from the twins as he could. Nothing else mattered. If he could get the rebels to follow him and lead them away, the twins might have a chance to get to their father. If he would have to sacrifice himself for the sake of Karin and Yuzu, it would be a sacrifice he would be ready to make anytime.

Ichigo wasn´t paying any attention to where he was running, it was fine as long as it was away from the twins. The red head had failed to hear the sound of the horses let alone notice them before it was too late.

They had him surrounded.

Ichigo was getting ready to defend himself. He didn´t notice the man that neared him from behind until he was hit to the back. The impact caused his lungs to let out all the air and he fell to the ground. Ichigo was gasping for air and desperately trying to stand. He knew that if he would stay on the ground he would be surely killed. While standing up, he had a slight chance of survival.

A tall lanky man got off from the saddle of a horse and walked towards Ichigo. The red head had managed to get up. His balance was slightly off but he was able to avoid the man´s first punch. The second hit him to his left shoulder and Ichigo could hear a sickening crack as a wave of intense pain washed over him.

The world started to get blurry. He could hear himself screaming in pain and he felt every single punch that hammered him. Staying up was difficult.

His knee had been hit. Ichigo was trying to stay up, supporting his whole weight on his other leg but a hard hit to his jaw knocked him over and he fell, knowing he couldn´t get up anymore. There were some kicks to his stomach and head before it suddenly stopped.

The pain was still there but no one was beating him anymore. Ichigo turned his head, trying to see why they had stopped. The man who had been swiping the ground with him was apparently being scolded. The man scolding him was standing between Ichigo and the tall lanky man. His hair was blue as the sky itself, it was all Ichigo could make out before he passed out.

"The fuck you were doing!" Grimmjow was fuming. His day had been absolutely horrific till now. Nothing had gone the way he had wanted. "I told you to catch him, not kill him, fucking retard." The bluenet turned his back to the tall lanky form of Nnoitra, who was kneeling, his face full of hatred.

"Gather up the troops Nnoitra, we´re going back." Grimmjow almost growled. He was pissed off and the next one to tick him off would lose his head.

"Grimmjow, what about the two girls? Should I go find them?" A woman with seaweed green hair approached Grimmjow, choosing her words carefully and making sure her tone was calm and asking. She had known the man for years now and was the only one to date who was allowed to call the boss by his own name.

Grimmjow turned to face the woman. "No need Neliel. Let them be. I´ve got no use for little girls." Neliel flashed a quick smile and turned on her heels. She knew what to do. There seemed to be no order in the bluenet´s words but she had known him long enough to know what the man wanted her to do. She got on to her horse and rode away, leaving the rest of the group wondering where she was headed. No one asked anything thought. They knew that Neliel was special and no one dared to question that fact.

Grimmjow crouched beside the red head. He brushed away the bangs from the boy´s forehead. The kid was breathing at least. Grimmjow smirked and picked up the limp body of the red head and carried it to his horse. He lifted the red head to lie on the saddle and rose to the saddle then himself. He had the boy lying on top of his thighs.

"Okay men, time to head home."

**AN/: So this is the beginning of a story I´ve had in my mind for some time now. **

**Review if you´re interested in reading more and thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

The fire was burning in different hues of red, orange and yellow. Grimmjow was marvelling the beauty of it as he listened the sound that came forth from the slightly damp wood he had used to make the fire. The dance of the flames was almost hypnotic. Grimmjow pulled the blanket tighter around his body. He had been sitting still for some time already, waiting for the boy to regain consciousness. It had been boring sitting inside so he had decided to sit on the outside shed, used to the meetings of the tribe leaders.

When Grimmjow and his men had attacked the horse carriage the bluenet had locked eyes with the red head. It had been only a split second but that short moment had been enough for Grimmjow to see the fire burning in those eyes. That moment had sealed Ichigo´s fate. Was it lucky for him to be noticed by the rebel leader or merely something that would lead to much sadness and pain, even Grimmjow himself didn´t know that, Ichigo much less. Why had he wanted to chase down the kid, it was bothering him. Acting like this wasn´t like him at all.

Grimmjow shook the thought out if his head. He rose from the ground where he had been sitting and straightened his clothes. He was wearing a simple robe. It was frosty blue and it had a snowflake pattern on the hem. On his feet he was wearing sandals. A chill ran through the bluenet´s spine. The winter was closing in. He should start dressing more warmly. Soon it would snow and the snow would make sure the red head wouldn´t be going anywhere. They were deep to the mountains and Grimmjow was sure the kid wasn´t stupid enough to try and escape.

It would be a pure suicide to even try and cross the mountains when it was winter. It was far too dangerous and besides the kid didn´t know where he was or what direction he should head to get away from the mountains and back to the civilization. Grimmjow snarled at the thought.

He had made one of his subordinates to take care of the kid´s wounds. Szayel was a pain in the ass but he knew his way around herbs and stuff, so the bluenet tolerated his absurd behaviour. Grimmjow hadn´t bothered listening the pink haired man´s explanation when he had been treating the kid. He didn´t care how Szayel fixed the kid, as long as he fixed him it was all he needed to know. The bluenet hadn´t had even the slightest interest to listen the yapping of Szayel.

Grimmjow headed towards the bedchamber. He wanted to see if the kid was awake. Then he would finally get to ask some questions. All this waiting pissed him off.

Ichigo´s eyes shot open. _Yuzu and Karin!_

The red head tried to sit up but his left shoulder and his stomach were quick to disagree with his plan. Having no other options present he laid down on his back. He was anxious to know where he was, with whom and why? But at the moment he was in no shape to move around. His neck was stiff but he was able to move it, so he could inspect his wounds. He remembered being hit and kicked. A slight blush spread to Ichigo´s face as he realized that he was stark naked if you didn´t count the bandages covering his wounds. Someone had taken care of his wounds. Who?

Ichigo didn´t have any more time to wonder. He could hear footsteps coming closer. For some reason his heart rate sped up slightly. Should he pretend to be asleep? No, that could be dangerous. He would take it lake a man, as his father would have put it in his rare moments when he acted like a person of his age should.

Grimmjow opened the slide door to the room and immediately saw that the red head had regained consciousness. He smirked. It was bloody time. The brat had been sleeping over a day already.

Ichigo eyed the person who had arrived. The man was tall and his hair was blue. Blue hair, it felt somehow familiar. The red head followed the bluenet with his eyes as the man walked to sit on the pillows beside where he was laying. Ichigo swallowed. He was waiting for the bluenet to make the first move.

The bluenet knew the red head was watching him. He didn´t mind. It wasn´t like he was ashamed of his looks. Grimmjow was almost enjoying this. He was sure the red head was coming up with all different kind of theories as to why he was here and what would happen to him.

"So, What´s yer name kid?" Grimmjow decided to use a friendly tactic this time. Over the years he had noticed that going straight to threatening and torturing was not effective. Acting all composed and patient was not really his style but he´d endure it.

Ichigo froze, his eyes going big as the realization hit him. He couldn´t understand a word the man in front of him had said. He was not stupid by any means but this man was speaking a different language than him. He was quite positive it had been a question but that was all he could figure out from the intonation. Ichigo swallowed again, trying to come up with and answer to the unknown question. He opened his mouth and closed it again, repeating this few times. Ichigo could see that the bluenet was growing impatient. He would need to answer somehow. But before he had the chance, he started to cough violently. His whole body hurt from the tremor and he couldn´t stop.

Ichigo didn´t register anything happening around him. His eyes were squeezed shut and his hands were holding his throat as he kept on couching. Before he knew it he was being lifted to a more upright position and a cup had been brought to his lips. Ichigo brought his hands to the cup and with a little help he was able to drink the liquid, it was bitter. When the cup was taken away Ichigo was slightly panting. He didn´t remember that he would have coughed that hard ever before. Now he was able to take in his surroundings again. He was leaning on to someone. The bluenet wasn´t where he had been a while ago, so Ichigo assumed that the bluenet was the one holding him.

"Kiitos." Ichigo might have been confused, worried and a tad bit scared but he hadn´t forgotten his manners. When someone helped you, you should show your gratitude. Grimmjow had heard the kid say something but he hadn´t been able to catch what it was.

After a while they were sitting face to face. The bluenet had put pillows behind Ichigo´s back so he was on a sitting position.

For the past 15 minutes Grimmjow had been trying to ask questions from Ichigo but no matter what the red head said, the bluenet couldn´t understand a word and it pissed him off great time. He was ready to smash something. What should he do? He was curious of the kid but apparently they couldn´t understand each other. Grimmjow pinched the brick of his nose and closed his eyes. This was getting complicated and hard and he hated complicated things. Ichigo could read from Grimmjow´s body language that he was irritated. This was so out of character from him but something in the back of his mind told him that he shouldn´t let this man get mad, so he grabbed the bluenet´s hand. Grimmjow jerked away from the touch but lifted his face and they locked eyes, warm brown met azure and both of the men stopped at their tracks.

Ichigo brought his hands to his own chest and took a deep breath.

"Ichigo." For some reason I the red head though it would be good to have the man know his name. He couldn´t explain it to himself why but he decided to just go along with it. If he wanted to know where Yuzu and Karin were, he shouldn´t make unnecessary enemies.

Grimmjow was slightly taken aback. The kid was trying to communicate with him. Ichigo? It was probably the kid´s name. Did the red head perhaps want to know his name? Grimmjow thought about few possible ways this could go. He couldn´t come up with anything that would leave him un-amused. A feral grin rose to Grimmjow´s lips. Ichigo could after all be of some amusement. If nothing else then at least he would have something to do during the winter.

Grimmjow leaned towards the red head, grinning like a maniac. He could see that the red head was trying to lean away from him but because of the pillows he didn´t have much space to do so. Grimmjow just knew that he was going to enjoy this and he wasn´t the only one. All of his men were relieved that Grimmjow had decided to pick up the red head as his new plaything. No one of them had wanted to take that role this winter.

"Grimmjow." The bluenet´s mouth was right beside the red head´s ear; his deep voice sent involuntary shivers to Ichigo´s spine. The red head swallowed hard.

Where had he gotten himself? And more importantly, where were the twins and how would he get to his dad?

**AN/: I wasn´t planning on writing this until next Wednesday but I´m stressing about my math test and this just happened. I´m pretty much done setting out the story now. Next one will introduce some new people.**

**Please review.**


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